Structure for updating software in remote device

ABSTRACT

According to one embodiment, updating software in a remote device comprises operating on a first image of an operating system code, updating to a second image of the operating system code, wherein updating to the second image comprises operating on the second image while maintaining the first image in memory, and in response to detecting an error in operating on the second image, operating on the first image of the operating system code maintained in the memory accessible by the ECU. Operating on the first image of the operating system code can comprise saving the first image in the memory and executing the first image based on a pointer to the first image. Updating can comprise saving the second image without overwriting or erasing the first image and executing the second image based on a pointer to the second image.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefits of and priority, under 35U.S.C. § 119(e), to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/424,976,filed Nov. 21, 2016, entitled “Next Generation Vehicle.” The entiredisclosures of the applications listed above are hereby incorporated byreference, in their entirety, for all that they teach and for allpurposes.

FIELD

The present disclosure is generally directed to vehicle systems, inparticular, toward electric and/or hybrid-electric vehicles.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, transportation methods have changed substantially. Thischange is due in part to a concern over the limited availability ofnatural resources, a proliferation in personal technology, and asocietal shift to adopt more environmentally friendly transportationsolutions. These considerations have encouraged the development of anumber of new flexible-fuel vehicles, hybrid-electric vehicles, andelectric vehicles.

While these vehicles appear to be new they are generally implemented asa number of traditional subsystems that are merely tied to analternative power source. In fact, the design and construction of thevehicles is limited to standard frame sizes, shapes, materials, andtransportation concepts. Among other things, these limitations fail totake advantage of the benefits of new technology, power sources, andsupport infrastructure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a vehicle in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the vehicle in accordance with at least someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the vehicle in accordance with embodimentsof the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a communications subsystemof the vehicle;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a computing environment associated with theembodiments presented herein;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a computing device associated with one ormore components described herein;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary remote device inwhich software can be updated according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for updatingsoftware in a remote device according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in connectionwith a vehicle, and in some embodiments, an electric vehicle,rechargeable electric vehicle, and/or hybrid-electric vehicle andassociated systems.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a vehicle 100 in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure. The electric vehicle 100comprises a vehicle front 110, vehicle aft 120, vehicle roof 130, atleast one vehicle side 160, a vehicle undercarriage 140, and a vehicleinterior 150. In any event, the vehicle 100 may include a frame 104 andone or more body panels 108 mounted or affixed thereto. The vehicle 100may include one or more interior components (e.g., components inside aninterior space 150, or user space, of a vehicle 100, etc.), exteriorcomponents (e.g., components outside of the interior space 150, or userspace, of a vehicle 100, etc.), drive systems, controls systems,structural components, etc.

Although shown in the form of a car, it should be appreciated that thevehicle 100 described herein may include any conveyance or model of aconveyance, where the conveyance was designed for the purpose of movingone or more tangible objects, such as people, animals, cargo, and thelike. The term “vehicle” does not require that a conveyance moves or iscapable of movement. Typical vehicles may include but are in no waylimited to cars, trucks, motorcycles, busses, automobiles, trains,railed conveyances, boats, ships, marine conveyances, submarineconveyances, airplanes, space craft, flying machines, human-poweredconveyances, and the like.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a plan view of a vehicle 100 will be describedin accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. As providedabove, the vehicle 100 may comprise a number of electrical and/ormechanical systems, subsystems, etc. The mechanical systems of thevehicle 100 can include structural, power, safety, and communicationssubsystems, to name a few. While each subsystem may be describedseparately, it should be appreciated that the components of a particularsubsystem may be shared between one or more other subsystems of thevehicle 100.

The structural subsystem includes the frame 104 of the vehicle 100. Theframe 104 may comprise a separate frame and body construction (i.e.,body-on-frame construction), a unitary frame and body construction(i.e., a unibody construction), or any other construction defining thestructure of the vehicle 100. The frame 104 may be made from one or morematerials including, but in no way limited to steel, titanium, aluminum,carbon fiber, plastic, polymers, etc., and/or combinations thereof. Insome embodiments, the frame 104 may be formed, welded, fused, fastened,pressed, etc., combinations thereof, or otherwise shaped to define aphysical structure and strength of the vehicle 100. In any event, theframe 104 may comprise one or more surfaces, connections, protrusions,cavities, mounting points, tabs, slots, or other features that areconfigured to receive other components that make up the vehicle 100. Forexample, the body panels 108, powertrain subsystem, controls systems,interior components, communications subsystem, and safety subsystem mayinterconnect with, or attach to, the frame 104 of the vehicle 100.

The frame 104 may include one or more modular system and/or subsystemconnection mechanisms. These mechanisms may include features that areconfigured to provide a selectively interchangeable interface for one ormore of the systems and/or subsystems described herein. The mechanismsmay provide for a quick exchange, or swapping, of components whileproviding enhanced security and adaptability over conventionalmanufacturing or attachment. For instance, the ability to selectivelyinterchange systems and/or subsystems in the vehicle 100 allow thevehicle 100 to adapt to the ever-changing technological demands ofsociety and advances in safety. Among other things, the mechanisms mayprovide for the quick exchange of batteries, capacitors, power sources208A, 208B, motors 212, engines, safety equipment, controllers, userinterfaces, interiors exterior components, body panels 108, bumpers 216,sensors, etc., and/or combinations thereof. Additionally oralternatively, the mechanisms may provide unique security hardwareand/or software embedded therein that, among other things, can preventfraudulent or low quality construction replacements from being used inthe vehicle 100. Similarly, the mechanisms, subsystems, and/or receivingfeatures in the vehicle 100 may employ poka-yoke, or mistake-proofing,features that ensure a particular mechanism is always interconnectedwith the vehicle 100 in a correct position, function, etc.

By way of example, complete systems or subsystems may be removed and/orreplaced from a vehicle 100 utilizing a single-minute exchange (“SME”)principle. In some embodiments, the frame 104 may include slides,receptacles, cavities, protrusions, and/or a number of other featuresthat allow for quick exchange of system components. In one embodiment,the frame 104 may include tray or ledge features, mechanicalinterconnection features, locking mechanisms, retaining mechanisms,etc., and/or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, it may bebeneficial to quickly remove a used power source 208A, 208B (e.g.,battery unit, capacitor unit, etc.) from the vehicle 100 and replace theused power source 208A, 208B with a charged or new power source.Continuing this example, the power source 208A, 208B may includeselectively interchangeable features that interconnect with the frame104 or other portion of the vehicle 100. For instance, in a power source208A, 208B replacement, the quick release features may be configured torelease the power source 208A, 208B from an engaged position and slideor move in a direction away from the frame 104 of a vehicle 100. Onceremoved, or separated from, the vehicle, the power source 208A, 208B maybe replaced (e.g., with a new power source, a charged power source,etc.) by engaging the replacement power source into a system receivingposition adjacent to the vehicle 100. In some embodiments, the vehicle100 may include one or more actuators configured to position, lift,slide, or otherwise engage the replacement power source with the vehicle100. In one embodiment, the replacement power source may be insertedinto the vehicle 100 or vehicle frame 104 with mechanisms and/ormachines that are external and/or separate from the vehicle 100.

In some embodiments, the frame 104 may include one or more featuresconfigured to selectively interconnect with other vehicles and/orportions of vehicles. These selectively interconnecting features canallow for one or more vehicles to selectively couple together anddecouple for a variety of purposes. For example, it is an aspect of thepresent disclosure that a number of vehicles may be selectively coupledtogether to share energy, increase power output, provide security,decrease power consumption, provide towing services, and/or provide arange of other benefits. Continuing this example, the vehicles may becoupled together based on travel route, destination, preferences,settings, sensor information, and/or some other data. The coupling maybe initiated by at least one controller of the vehicle and/or trafficcontrol system upon determining that a coupling is beneficial to one ormore vehicles in a group of vehicles or a traffic system. As can beappreciated, the power consumption for a group of vehicles traveling ina same direction may be reduced or decreased by removing any aerodynamicseparation between vehicles. In this case, the vehicles may be coupledtogether to subject only the foremost vehicle in the coupling to airand/or wind resistance during travel. In one embodiment, the poweroutput by the group of vehicles may be proportionally or selectivelycontrolled to provide a specific output from each of the one or more ofthe vehicles in the group.

The interconnecting, or coupling, features may be configured aselectromagnetic mechanisms, mechanical couplings, electromechanicalcoupling mechanisms, etc., and/or combinations thereof. The features maybe selectively deployed from a portion of the frame 104 and/or body ofthe vehicle 100. In some cases, the features may be built into the frame104 and/or body of the vehicle 100. In any event, the features maydeploy from an unexposed position to an exposed position or may beconfigured to selectively engage/disengage without requiring an exposureor deployment of the mechanism from the frame 104 and/or body of thevehicle 100. In some embodiments, the interconnecting features may beconfigured to interconnect one or more of power, communications,electrical energy, fuel, and/or the like. One or more of the power,mechanical, and/or communications connections between vehicles may bepart of a single interconnection mechanism. In some embodiments, theinterconnection mechanism may include multiple connection mechanisms. Inany event, the single interconnection mechanism or the interconnectionmechanism may employ the poka-yoke features as described above.

The power system of the vehicle 100 may include the powertrain, powerdistribution system, accessory power system, and/or any other componentsthat store power, provide power, convert power, and/or distribute powerto one or more portions of the vehicle 100. The powertrain may includethe one or more electric motors 212 of the vehicle 100. The electricmotors 212 are configured to convert electrical energy provided by apower source into mechanical energy. This mechanical energy may be inthe form of a rotational or other output force that is configured topropel or otherwise provide a motive force for the vehicle 100.

In some embodiments, the vehicle 100 may include one or more drivewheels 220 that are driven by the one or more electric motors 212 andmotor controllers 214. In some cases, the vehicle 100 may include anelectric motor 212 configured to provide a driving force for each drivewheel 220. In other cases, a single electric motor 212 may be configuredto share an output force between two or more drive wheels 220 via one ormore power transmission components. It is an aspect of the presentdisclosure that the powertrain may include one or more powertransmission components, motor controllers 214, and/or power controllersthat can provide a controlled output of power to one or more of thedrive wheels 220 of the vehicle 100. The power transmission components,power controllers, or motor controllers 214 may be controlled by atleast one other vehicle controller or computer system as describedherein.

As provided above, the powertrain of the vehicle 100 may include one ormore power sources 208A, 208B. These one or more power sources 208A,208B may be configured to provide drive power, system and/or subsystempower, accessory power, etc. While described herein as a single powersource 208 for sake of clarity, embodiments of the present disclosureare not so limited. For example, it should be appreciated thatindependent, different, or separate power sources 208A, 208B may providepower to various systems of the vehicle 100. For instance, a drive powersource may be configured to provide the power for the one or moreelectric motors 212 of the vehicle 100, while a system power source maybe configured to provide the power for one or more other systems and/orsubsystems of the vehicle 100. Other power sources may include anaccessory power source, a backup power source, a critical system powersource, and/or other separate power sources. Separating the powersources 208A, 208B in this manner may provide a number of benefits overconventional vehicle systems. For example, separating the power sources208A, 208B allow one power source 208 to be removed and/or replacedindependently without requiring that power be removed from all systemsand/or subsystems of the vehicle 100 during a power source 208removal/replacement. For instance, one or more of the accessories,communications, safety equipment, and/or backup power systems, etc., maybe maintained even when a particular power source 208A, 208B isdepleted, removed, or becomes otherwise inoperable.

In some embodiments, the drive power source may be separated into two ormore cells, units, sources, and/or systems. By way of example, a vehicle100 may include a first drive power source 208A and a second drive powersource 208B. The first drive power source 208A may be operatedindependently from or in conjunction with the second drive power source208B and vice versa. Continuing this example, the first drive powersource 208A may be removed from a vehicle while a second drive powersource 208B can be maintained in the vehicle 100 to provide drive power.This approach allows the vehicle 100 to significantly reduce weight(e.g., of the first drive power source 208A, etc.) and improve powerconsumption, even if only for a temporary period of time. In some cases,a vehicle 100 running low on power may automatically determine thatpulling over to a rest area, emergency lane, and removing, or “droppingoff,” at least one power source 208A, 208B may reduce enough weight ofthe vehicle 100 to allow the vehicle 100 to navigate to the closestpower source replacement and/or charging area. In some embodiments, theremoved, or “dropped off,” power source 208A may be collected by acollection service, vehicle mechanic, tow truck, or even another vehicleor individual.

The power source 208 may include a GPS or other geographical locationsystem that may be configured to emit a location signal to one or morereceiving entities. For instance, the signal may be broadcast ortargeted to a specific receiving party. Additionally or alternatively,the power source 208 may include a unique identifier that may be used toassociate the power source 208 with a particular vehicle 100 or vehicleuser. This unique identifier may allow an efficient recovery of thepower source 208 dropped off. In some embodiments, the unique identifiermay provide information for the particular vehicle 100 or vehicle userto be billed or charged with a cost of recovery for the power source208.

The power source 208 may include a charge controller 224 that may beconfigured to determine charge levels of the power source 208, control arate at which charge is drawn from the power source 208, control a rateat which charge is added to the power source 208, and/or monitor ahealth of the power source 208 (e.g., one or more cells, portions,etc.). In some embodiments, the charge controller 224 or the powersource 208 may include a communication interface. The communicationinterface can allow the charge controller 224 to report a state of thepower source 208 to one or more other controllers of the vehicle 100 oreven communicate with a communication device separate and/or apart fromthe vehicle 100. Additionally or alternatively, the communicationinterface may be configured to receive instructions (e.g., controlinstructions, charge instructions, communication instructions, etc.)from one or more other controllers or computers of the vehicle 100 or acommunication device that is separate and/or apart from the vehicle 100.

The powertrain includes one or more power distribution systemsconfigured to transmit power from the power source 208 to one or moreelectric motors 212 in the vehicle 100. The power distribution systemmay include electrical interconnections 228 in the form of cables,wires, traces, wireless power transmission systems, etc., and/orcombinations thereof. It is an aspect of the present disclosure that thevehicle 100 include one or more redundant electrical interconnections232 of the power distribution system. The redundant electricalinterconnections 232 can allow power to be distributed to one or moresystems and/or subsystems of the vehicle 100 even in the event of afailure of an electrical interconnection portion of the vehicle 100(e.g., due to an accident, mishap, tampering, or other harm to aparticular electrical interconnection, etc.). In some embodiments, auser of a vehicle 100 may be alerted via a user interface associatedwith the vehicle 100 that a redundant electrical interconnection 232 isbeing used and/or damage has occurred to a particular area of thevehicle electrical system. In any event, the one or more redundantelectrical interconnections 232 may be configured along completelydifferent routes than the electrical interconnections 228 and/or includedifferent modes of failure than the electrical interconnections 228 to,among other things, prevent a total interruption power distribution inthe event of a failure.

In some embodiments, the power distribution system may include an energyrecovery system 236. This energy recovery system 236, or kinetic energyrecovery system, may be configured to recover energy produced by themovement of a vehicle 100. The recovered energy may be stored aselectrical and/or mechanical energy. For instance, as a vehicle 100travels or moves, a certain amount of energy is required to accelerate,maintain a speed, stop, or slow the vehicle 100. In any event, a movingvehicle has a certain amount of kinetic energy. When brakes are appliedin a typical moving vehicle, most of the kinetic energy of the vehicleis lost as the generation of heat in the braking mechanism. In an energyrecovery system 236, when a vehicle 100 brakes, at least a portion ofthe kinetic energy is converted into electrical and/or mechanical energyfor storage. Mechanical energy may be stored as mechanical movement(e.g., in a flywheel, etc.) and electrical energy may be stored inbatteries, capacitors, and/or some other electrical storage system. Insome embodiments, electrical energy recovered may be stored in the powersource 208. For example, the recovered electrical energy may be used tocharge the power source 208 of the vehicle 100.

The vehicle 100 may include one or more safety systems. Vehicle safetysystems can include a variety of mechanical and/or electrical componentsincluding, but in no way limited to, low impact or energy-absorbingbumpers 216A, 216B, crumple zones, reinforced body panels, reinforcedframe components, impact bars, power source containment zones, safetyglass, seatbelts, supplemental restraint systems, air bags, escapehatches, removable access panels, impact sensors, accelerometers, visionsystems, radar systems, etc., and/or the like. In some embodiments, theone or more of the safety components may include a safety sensor orgroup of safety sensors associated with the one or more of the safetycomponents. For example, a crumple zone may include one or more straingages, impact sensors, pressure transducers, etc. These sensors may beconfigured to detect or determine whether a portion of the vehicle 100has been subjected to a particular force, deformation, or other impact.Once detected, the information collected by the sensors may betransmitted or sent to one or more of a controller of the vehicle 100(e.g., a safety controller, vehicle controller, etc.) or a communicationdevice associated with the vehicle 100 (e.g., across a communicationnetwork, etc.).

FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the vehicle 100 in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure. In particular, FIG. 3 shows abroken section 302 of a charging system 300 for the vehicle 100. Thecharging system 300 may include a plug or receptacle 304 configured toreceive power from an external power source (e.g., a source of powerthat is external to and/or separate from the vehicle 100, etc.). Anexample of an external power source may include the standard industrial,commercial, or residential power that is provided across power lines.Another example of an external power source may include a proprietarypower system configured to provide power to the vehicle 100. In anyevent, power received at the plug/receptacle 304 may be transferred viaat least one power transmission interconnection 308. Similar, if notidentical, to the electrical interconnections 228 described above, theat least one power transmission interconnection 308 may be one or morecables, wires, traces, wireless power transmission systems, etc., and/orcombinations thereof. Electrical energy in the form of charge can betransferred from the external power source to the charge controller 224.As provided above, the charge controller 224 may regulate the additionof charge to at least one power source 208 of the vehicle 100 (e.g.,until the at least one power source 208 is full or at a capacity, etc.).

In some embodiments, the vehicle 100 may include an inductive chargingsystem and inductive charger 312. The inductive charger 312 may beconfigured to receive electrical energy from an inductive power sourceexternal to the vehicle 100. In one embodiment, when the vehicle 100and/or the inductive charger 312 is positioned over an inductive powersource external to the vehicle 100, electrical energy can be transferredfrom the inductive power source to the vehicle 100. For example, theinductive charger 312 may receive the charge and transfer the charge viaat least one power transmission interconnection 308 to the chargecontroller 324 and/or the power source 208 of the vehicle 100. Theinductive charger 312 may be concealed in a portion of the vehicle 100(e.g., at least partially protected by the frame 104, one or more bodypanels 108, a shroud, a shield, a protective cover, etc., and/orcombinations thereof) and/or may be deployed from the vehicle 100. Insome embodiments, the inductive charger 312 may be configured to receivecharge only when the inductive charger 312 is deployed from the vehicle100. In other embodiments, the inductive charger 312 may be configuredto receive charge while concealed in the portion of the vehicle 100.

In addition to the mechanical components described herein, the vehicle100 may include a number of user interface devices. The user interfacedevices receive and translate human input into a mechanical movement orelectrical signal or stimulus. The human input may be one or more ofmotion (e.g., body movement, body part movement, in two-dimensional orthree-dimensional space, etc.), voice, touch, and/or physicalinteraction with the components of the vehicle 100. In some embodiments,the human input may be configured to control one or more functions ofthe vehicle 100 and/or systems of the vehicle 100 described herein. Userinterfaces may include, but are in no way limited to, at least onegraphical user interface of a display device, steering wheel ormechanism, transmission lever or button (e.g., including park, neutral,reverse, and/or drive positions, etc.), throttle control pedal ormechanism, brake control pedal or mechanism, power control switch,communications equipment, etc.

FIG. 4 illustrates a hardware diagram of communications componentry thatcan be optionally associated with the vehicle 100 in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure.

The communications componentry can include one or more wired or wirelessdevices such as a transceiver(s) and/or modem that allows communicationsnot only between the various systems disclosed herein but also withother devices, such as devices on a network, and/or on a distributednetwork such as the Internet and/or in the cloud and/or with othervehicle(s).

The communications subsystem can also include inter- and intra-vehiclecommunications capabilities such as hotspot and/or access pointconnectivity for any one or more of the vehicle occupants and/orvehicle-to-vehicle communications.

Additionally, and while not specifically illustrated, the communicationssubsystem can include one or more communications links (that can bewired or wireless) and/or communications busses (managed by the busmanager 474), including one or more of CANbus, OBD-II, ARCINC 429,Byteflight, CAN (Controller Area Network), D2B (Domestic Digital Bus),FlexRay, DC-BUS, IDB-1394, IEBus, I2C, ISO 9141-1/-2, J1708, J1587,J1850, J1939, ISO 11783, Keyword Protocol 2000, LIN (Local InterconnectNetwork), MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport), Multifunction VehicleBus, SMARTwireX, SPI, VAN (Vehicle Area Network), and the like or ingeneral any communications protocol and/or standard(s).

The various protocols and communications can be communicated one or moreof wirelessly and/or over transmission media such as single wire,twisted pair, fiber optic, IEEE 1394, MIL-STD-1553, MIL-STD-1773,power-line communication, or the like. (All of the above standards andprotocols are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety).

As discussed, the communications subsystem enables communicationsbetween any if the inter-vehicle systems and subsystems as well ascommunications with non-collocated resources, such as those reachableover a network such as the Internet.

The communications subsystem 400, in addition to well-known componentry(which has been omitted for clarity), includes interconnected elementsincluding one or more of: one or more antennas 404, aninterleaver/deinterleaver 408, an analog front end (AFE) 412,memory/storage/cache 416, controller/microprocessor 420, MAC circuitry422, modulator/demodulator 424, encoder/decoder 428, a plurality ofconnectivity managers 434-466, GPU 440, accelerator 444, amultiplexer/demultiplexer 452, transmitter 470, receiver 472 andwireless radio 478 components such as a Wi-Fi PHY/Bluetooth® module 480,a Wi-Fi/BT MAC module 484, transmitter 488 and receiver 492. The variouselements in the device 400 are connected by one or more links/busses 5(not shown, again for sake of clarity).

The device 400 can have one more antennas 404, for use in wirelesscommunications such as multi-input multi-output (MIMO) communications,multi-user multi-input multi-output (MU-MIMO) communications Bluetooth®,LTE, 4G, 5G, Near-Field Communication (NFC), etc., and in general forany type of wireless communications. The antenna(s) 404 can include, butare not limited to one or more of directional antennas, omnidirectionalantennas, monopoles, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas,dipoles, and any other antenna(s) suitable for communicationtransmission/reception. In an exemplary embodiment,transmission/reception using MIMO may require particular antennaspacing. In another exemplary embodiment, MIMO transmission/receptioncan enable spatial diversity allowing for different channelcharacteristics at each of the antennas. In yet another embodiment, MIMOtransmission/reception can be used to distribute resources to multipleusers for example within the vehicle 100 and/or in another vehicle.

Antenna(s) 404 generally interact with the Analog Front End (AFE) 412,which is needed to enable the correct processing of the receivedmodulated signal and signal conditioning for a transmitted signal. TheAFE 412 can be functionally located between the antenna and a digitalbaseband system in order to convert the analog signal into a digitalsignal for processing and vice-versa.

The subsystem 400 can also include a controller/microprocessor 420 and amemory/storage/cache 416. The subsystem 400 can interact with thememory/storage/cache 416 which may store information and operationsnecessary for configuring and transmitting or receiving the informationdescribed herein. The memory/storage/cache 416 may also be used inconnection with the execution of application programming or instructionsby the controller/microprocessor 420, and for temporary or long termstorage of program instructions and/or data. As examples, thememory/storage/cache 420 may comprise a computer-readable device, RAM,ROM, DRAM, SDRAM, and/or other storage device(s) and media.

The controller/microprocessor 420 may comprise a general purposeprogrammable processor or controller for executing applicationprogramming or instructions related to the subsystem 400. Furthermore,the controller/microprocessor 420 can perform operations for configuringand transmitting/receiving information as described herein. Thecontroller/microprocessor 420 may include multiple processor cores,and/or implement multiple virtual processors. Optionally, thecontroller/microprocessor 420 may include multiple physical processors.By way of example, the controller/microprocessor 420 may comprise aspecially configured Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) orother integrated circuit, a digital signal processor(s), a controller, ahardwired electronic or logic circuit, a programmable logic device orgate array, a special purpose computer, or the like.

The subsystem 400 can further include a transmitter 470 and receiver 472which can transmit and receive signals, respectively, to and from otherdevices, subsystems and/or other destinations using the one or moreantennas 404 and/or links/busses. Included in the subsystem 400circuitry is the medium access control or MAC Circuitry 422. MACcircuitry 422 provides for controlling access to the wireless medium. Inan exemplary embodiment, the MAC circuitry 422 may be arranged tocontend for the wireless medium and configure frames or packets forcommunicating over the wired/wireless medium.

The subsystem 400 can also optionally contain a security module (notshown). This security module can contain information regarding but notlimited to, security parameters required to connect the device to one ormore other devices or other available network(s), and can include WEP orWPA/WPA-2 (optionally+AES and/or TKIP) security access keys, networkkeys, etc. The WEP security access key is a security password used byWi-Fi networks. Knowledge of this code can enable a wireless device toexchange information with an access point and/or another device. Theinformation exchange can occur through encoded messages with the WEPaccess code often being chosen by the network administrator. WPA is anadded security standard that is also used in conjunction with networkconnectivity with stronger encryption than WEP.

In some embodiments, the communications subsystem 400 also includes aGPU 440, an accelerator 444, a Wi-Fi/BT/BLE PHY module 480 and aWi-Fi/BT/BLE MAC module 484 and wireless transmitter 488 and receiver492. In some embodiments, the GPU 440 may be a graphics processing unit,or visual processing unit, comprising at least one circuit and/or chipthat manipulates and changes memory to accelerate the creation of imagesin a frame buffer for output to at least one display device. The GPU 440may include one or more of a display device connection port, printedcircuit board (PCB), a GPU chip, a metal-oxide-semiconductorfield-effect transistor (MOSFET), memory (e.g., single data raterandom-access memory (SDRAM), double data rate random-access memory(DDR) RAM, etc., and/or combinations thereof), a secondary processingchip (e.g., handling video out capabilities, processing, and/or otherfunctions in addition to the GPU chip, etc.), a capacitor, heatsink,temperature control or cooling fan, motherboard connection, shielding,and the like.

The various connectivity managers 434-466 (even) manage and/orcoordinate communications between the subsystem 400 and one or more ofthe systems disclosed herein and one or more other devices/systems. Theconnectivity managers include an emergency charging connectivity manager434, an aerial charging connectivity manager 438, a roadway chargingconnectivity manager 442, an overhead charging connectivity manager 446,a robotic charging connectivity manager 450, a static chargingconnectivity manager 454, a vehicle database connectivity manager 458, aremote operating system connectivity manager 462 and a sensorconnectivity manager 466.

The emergency charging connectivity manager 434 can coordinate not onlythe physical connectivity between the vehicle 100 and the emergencycharging device/vehicle, but can also communicate with one or more ofthe power management controller, one or more third parties andoptionally a billing system(s). As an example, the vehicle 100 canestablish communications with the emergency charging device/vehicle toone or more of coordinate interconnectivity between the two (e.g., byspatially aligning the charging receptacle on the vehicle with thecharger on the emergency charging vehicle) and optionally sharenavigation information. Once charging is complete, the amount of chargeprovided can be tracked and optionally forwarded to, for example, athird party for billing. In addition to being able to manageconnectivity for the exchange of power, the emergency chargingconnectivity manager 434 can also communicate information, such asbilling information to the emergency charging vehicle and/or a thirdparty. This billing information could be, for example, the owner of thevehicle, the driver/occupant(s) of the vehicle, company information, orin general any information usable to charge the appropriate entity forthe power received.

The aerial charging connectivity manager 438 can coordinate not only thephysical connectivity between the vehicle 100 and the aerial chargingdevice/vehicle, but can also communicate with one or more of the powermanagement controller, one or more third parties and optionally abilling system(s). As an example, the vehicle 100 can establishcommunications with the aerial charging device/vehicle to one or more ofcoordinate interconnectivity between the two (e.g., by spatiallyaligning the charging receptacle on the vehicle with the charger on theemergency charging vehicle) and optionally share navigation information.Once charging is complete, the amount of charge provided can be trackedand optionally forwarded to, for example, a third party for billing. Inaddition to being able to manage connectivity for the exchange of power,the aerial charging connectivity manager 438 can similarly communicateinformation, such as billing information to the aerial charging vehicleand/or a third party. This billing information could be, for example,the owner of the vehicle 100, the driver/occupant(s) of the vehicle 100,company information, or in general any information usable to charge theappropriate entity for the power received etc., as discussed.

The roadway charging connectivity manager 442 and overhead chargingconnectivity manager 446 can coordinate not only the physicalconnectivity between the vehicle 100 and the charging device/system, butcan also communicate with one or more of the power managementcontroller, one or more third parties and optionally a billingsystem(s). As one example, the vehicle 100 can request a charge from thecharging system when, for example, the vehicle 100 needs or is predictedto need power. As an example, the vehicle 100 can establishcommunications with the charging device/vehicle to one or more ofcoordinate interconnectivity between the two for charging and shareinformation for billing. Once charging is complete, the amount of chargeprovided can be tracked and optionally forwarded to, for example, athird party for billing. This billing information could be, for example,the owner of the vehicle 100, the driver/occupant(s) of the vehicle 100,company information, or in general any information usable to charge theappropriate entity for the power received etc., as discussed. The personresponsible for paying for the charge could also receive a copy of thebilling information as is customary. The robotic charging connectivitymanager 450 and static charging connectivity manager 454 can operate ina similar manner to that described herein.

The vehicle database connectivity manager 458 allows the subsystem toreceive and/or share information stored in the vehicle database. Thisinformation can be shared with other vehicle components/subsystemsand/or other entities, such as third parties and/or charging systems.The information can also be shared with one or more vehicle occupantdevices, such as an app (application) on a mobile device the driver usesto track information about the vehicle 100 and/or a dealer orservice/maintenance provider. In general any information stored in thevehicle database can optionally be shared with any one or more otherdevices optionally subject to any privacy or confidentiallyrestrictions.

The remote operating system connectivity manager 462 facilitatescommunications between the vehicle 100 and any one or more autonomousvehicle systems. These communications can include one or more ofnavigation information, vehicle information, other vehicle information,weather information, occupant information, or in general any informationrelated to the remote operation of the vehicle 100.

The sensor connectivity manager 466 facilitates communications betweenany one or more of the vehicle sensors and any one or more of the othervehicle systems. The sensor connectivity manager 466 can also facilitatecommunications between any one or more of the sensors and/or vehiclesystems and any other destination, such as a service company, app, or ingeneral to any destination where sensor data is needed.

In accordance with one exemplary embodiment, any of the communicationsdiscussed herein can be communicated via the conductor(s) used forcharging. One exemplary protocol usable for these communications isPower-line communication (PLC). PLC is a communication protocol thatuses electrical wiring to simultaneously carry both data, andAlternating Current (AC) electric power transmission or electric powerdistribution. It is also known as power-line carrier, power-line digitalsubscriber line (PDSL), mains communication, power-linetelecommunications, or power-line networking (PLN). For DC environmentsin vehicles PLC can be used in conjunction with CAN-bus, LIN-bus overpower line (DC-LIN) and DC-BUS.

The communications subsystem can also optionally manage one or moreidentifiers, such as an IP (internet protocol) address(es), associatedwith the vehicle and one or other system or subsystems or componentstherein. These identifiers can be used in conjunction with any one ormore of the connectivity managers as discussed herein.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a computing environment 500 thatmay function as the servers, user computers, or other systems providedand described herein. The environment 500 includes one or more usercomputers, or computing devices, such as a vehicle computing device 504,a communication device 508, and/or more 512. The computing devices 504,508, 512 may include general purpose personal computers (including,merely by way of example, personal computers, and/or laptop computersrunning various versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows® and/or AppleCorp.'s Macintosh® operating systems) and/or workstation computersrunning any of a variety of commercially-available UNIX® or UNIX-likeoperating systems. These computing devices 504, 508, 512 may also haveany of a variety of applications, including for example, database clientand/or server applications, and web browser applications. Alternatively,the computing devices 504, 508, 512 may be any other electronic device,such as a thin-client computer, Internet-enabled mobile telephone,and/or personal digital assistant, capable of communicating via anetwork 510 and/or displaying and navigating web pages or other types ofelectronic documents. Although the exemplary computer environment 500 isshown with two computing devices, any number of user computers orcomputing devices may be supported.

Environment 500 further includes a network 510. The network 510 may canbe any type of network familiar to those skilled in the art that cansupport data communications using any of a variety ofcommercially-available protocols, including without limitation SIP,TCP/IP, SNA, IPX, AppleTalk, and the like. Merely by way of example, thenetwork 510 maybe a local area network (“LAN”), such as an Ethernetnetwork, a Token-Ring network and/or the like; a wide-area network; avirtual network, including without limitation a virtual private network(“VPN”); the Internet; an intranet; an extranet; a public switchedtelephone network (“PSTN”); an infra-red network; a wireless network(e.g., a network operating under any of the IEEE 802.9 suite ofprotocols, the Bluetooth® protocol known in the art, and/or any otherwireless protocol); and/or any combination of these and/or othernetworks.

The system may also include one or more servers 514, 516. In thisexample, server 514 is shown as a web server and server 516 is shown asan application server. The web server 514, which may be used to processrequests for web pages or other electronic documents from computingdevices 504, 508, 512. The web server 514 can be running an operatingsystem including any of those discussed above, as well as anycommercially-available server operating systems. The web server 514 canalso run a variety of server applications, including SIP (SessionInitiation Protocol) servers, HTTP(s) servers, FTP servers, CGI servers,database servers, Java servers, and the like. In some instances, the webserver 514 may publish operations available operations as one or moreweb services.

The environment 500 may also include one or more file and or/applicationservers 516, which can, in addition to an operating system, include oneor more applications accessible by a client running on one or more ofthe computing devices 504, 508, 512. The server(s) 516 and/or 514 may beone or more general purpose computers capable of executing programs orscripts in response to the computing devices 504, 508, 512. As oneexample, the server 516, 514 may execute one or more web applications.The web application may be implemented as one or more scripts orprograms written in any programming language, such as Java™, C, C#®, orC++, and/or any scripting language, such as Perl, Python, or TCL, aswell as combinations of any programming/scripting languages. Theapplication server(s) 516 may also include database servers, includingwithout limitation those commercially available from Oracle®,Microsoft®, Sybase®, IBM® and the like, which can process requests fromdatabase clients running on a computing device 504, 508, 512.

The web pages created by the server 514 and/or 516 may be forwarded to acomputing device 504, 508, 512 via a web (file) server 514, 516.Similarly, the web server 514 may be able to receive web page requests,web services invocations, and/or input data from a computing device 504,508, 512 (e.g., a user computer, etc.) and can forward the web pagerequests and/or input data to the web (application) server 516. Infurther embodiments, the server 516 may function as a file server.Although for ease of description, FIG. 5 illustrates a separate webserver 514 and file/application server 516, those skilled in the artwill recognize that the functions described with respect to servers 514,516 may be performed by a single server and/or a plurality ofspecialized servers, depending on implementation-specific needs andparameters. The computer systems 504, 508, 512, web (file) server 514and/or web (application) server 516 may function as the system, devices,or components described in FIGS. 1-5.

The environment 500 may also include a database 518. The database 518may reside in a variety of locations. By way of example, database 518may reside on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) one or moreof the computers 504, 508, 512, 514, 516. Alternatively, it may beremote from any or all of the computers 504, 508, 512, 514, 516, and incommunication (e.g., via the network 510) with one or more of these. Thedatabase 518 may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar tothose skilled in the art. Similarly, any necessary files for performingthe functions attributed to the computers 504, 508, 512, 514, 516 may bestored locally on the respective computer and/or remotely, asappropriate. The database 518 may be a relational database, such asOracle 20i®, that is adapted to store, update, and retrieve data inresponse to SQL-formatted commands.

FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a computer system 600 upon whichthe servers, user computers, computing devices, or other systems orcomponents described above may be deployed or executed. The computersystem 600 is shown comprising hardware elements that may beelectrically coupled via a bus 604. The hardware elements may includeone or more central processing units (CPUs) 608; one or more inputdevices 612 (e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, etc.); and one or more outputdevices 616 (e.g., a display device, a printer, etc.). The computersystem 600 may also include one or more storage devices 620. By way ofexample, storage device(s) 620 may be disk drives, optical storagedevices, solid-state storage devices such as a random access memory(“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable,flash-updateable and/or the like.

The computer system 600 may additionally include a computer-readablestorage media reader 624; a communications system 628 (e.g., a modem, anetwork card (wireless or wired), an infra-red communication device,etc.); and working memory 636, which may include RAM and ROM devices asdescribed above. The computer system 600 may also include a processingacceleration unit 632, which can include a DSP, a special-purposeprocessor, and/or the like.

The computer-readable storage media reader 624 can further be connectedto a computer-readable storage medium, together (and, optionally, incombination with storage device(s) 620) comprehensively representingremote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plus storagemedia for temporarily and/or more permanently containingcomputer-readable information. The communications system 628 may permitdata to be exchanged with a network and/or any other computer describedabove with respect to the computer environments described herein.Moreover, as disclosed herein, the term “storage medium” may representone or more devices for storing data, including read only memory (ROM),random access memory (RAM), magnetic RAM, core memory, magnetic diskstorage mediums, optical storage mediums, flash memory devices and/orother machine readable mediums for storing information.

The computer system 600 may also comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within a working memory 636, including anoperating system 640 and/or other code 644. It should be appreciatedthat alternate embodiments of a computer system 600 may have numerousvariations from that described above. For example, customized hardwaremight also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented inhardware, software (including portable software, such as applets), orboth. Further, connection to other computing devices such as networkinput/output devices may be employed.

Examples of the processors 608 as described herein may include, but arenot limited to, at least one of Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 800 and 801,Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 620 and 615 with 4G LTE Integration and 64-bitcomputing, Apple® A7 processor with 64-bit architecture, Apple® M7motion coprocessors, Samsung® Exynos® series, the Intel® Core™ family ofprocessors, the Intel® Xeon® family of processors, the Intel® Atom™family of processors, the Intel Itanium® family of processors, Intel®Core® i5-4670K and i7-4770K 22 nm Haswell, Intel® Core® i5-3570K 22 nmIvy Bridge, the AMD® FX™ family of processors, AMD® FX-4300, FX-6300,and FX-8350 32 nm Vishera, AMD® Kaveri processors, Texas Instruments®Jacinto C6000™ automotive infotainment processors, Texas Instruments®OMAP™ automotive-grade mobile processors, ARM® Cortex™-M processors,ARM® Cortex-A and ARM926EJ-S™ processors, other industry-equivalentprocessors, and may perform computational functions using any known orfuture-developed standard, instruction set, libraries, and/orarchitecture.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary remote device inwhich software can be updated according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure. More specifically, this example illustrates an ElectronicControl Unit (ECU) 705 such as a controller for any one or more of thesystems or components of a vehicle as described above. The ECU 705 cancomprise a processor 710 and a memory 715 coupled with and readable bythe processor 710. The processor 710 can execute a set of instructions,e.g., implementing an image controller application 720, to managesoftware updates of the ECU 705 such as the operating system code usedby the ECU 705.

According to one embodiment, updating software in a remote device, suchas the ECU 705, can comprise operating on a first image 725 of anoperating system code. Operating on the first image 725 of the operatingsystem code can comprise saving the first image 725 in the memory 715 ofthe ECU 705 and setting, e.g., by the image controller application 720,a pointer 735 to the first image 725 saved in the memory 715. Thispointer 735 may be stored, for example, in a vector table used by theprocessor 710 of the ECU 705. In another example, this pointer 735 maybe stored at a fixed address in the memory 715 of the ECU 705 that theprocessor 710 uses to startup or boot from. In some cases, once thepointer 735 has been set, the ECU 705 may be reset or restarted. Theprocessor 710 can then execute the first image 725 based on the setpointer 735 to the first image 725.

At some point in time, the operating system code of the ECU 705 may beupdated, i.e., to a new, second image 730. For example, this update tothe second image 730 can comprise performing an OTA update of theoperating system code of the ECU 705. In other cases, the update may beperformed through a wired connection, e.g., through the OBD port orother connection to the vehicle. In either case, updating to the secondimage 730 can comprise operating on the second image 730 whilemaintaining the first image 725 in memory 715. Operating on the secondimage 730 can comprise saving the second image 730 in the memory 715 ofthe ECU 705 without overwriting or erasing the first image 725 andsetting a pointer 735 to the second image 730 saved in the memory 715while maintaining, e.g., by the image controller application 720, apointer to the first image 725. As noted above, the pointers may bestored, for example, in a vector table used by the processor 710 of theECU 705. In another example, the pointer 735 to the second image 730 maybe stored at a fixed address in the memory 715 that the processor 710uses to startup or boot from while the pointer to the first image 725can be retained by the image controller application 720 at another knownlocation in the memory 715 available for retrieval and use by the imagecontroller application 720. In some cases, once the pointer 735 has beenset, the ECU 705 may be reset or restarted. The processor 710 can thenexecute the second image 730 based on the set pointer 735 to the secondimage 730.

At some point during operation of the ECU 705 using the updated, secondimage 730, an error may occur. However, since the earlier, first image725 is still available in memory 715 and pointer to that image has beensaved by the image controller application 720, that first image 725 canbe used as a backup or replacement for the faulty second image 730.Therefore, in response to detecting an error in operating on the secondimage 730, the image controller application 720 can switch the processor710 to operate on the first image 725 of the operating system codemaintained in the memory 715. Operating on the first image 725 of theoperating system code maintained in the memory 715 can comprise setting,by the image controller application 720, a pointer 735 to the firstimage 725 based on the previously saved and maintained pointer to thefirst image 725 and then executing, by the processor 710, the firstimage 725 in place of the second image 730 based on the set pointer 735to the first image 725. Depending upon how the pointers are stored,setting the pointer 735 to the first image 725 can comprise updating thevector table, writing the stored pointer to the first image to theaddress used to bootstrap the processor 710 of the ECU 705, etc. In somecases, the ECU 705 may be reset to affect this change.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for updatingsoftware in a remote device according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As illustrated in this example, updating software in aremote device, such as an ECU for a component or system of a vehicle,can comprise operating on a first image of an operating system code.Operating on the first image of the operating system code can comprisesaving 805 the first image in the memory accessible by the ECU andsetting 810 a pointer to the first image saved in the memory. Thispointer may be stored, for example, in a vector table used by theprocessor of the ECU. In another example, this pointer may be stored ata fixed address in the memory of the ECU that the processor uses tostartup or boot from. In some cases, once the pointer has been set 810,the ECU may be reset or restarted 815. The ECU can then execute 820 thefirst image based on the set pointer to the first image.

At some point in time, the operating system code of the ECU may beupdated, i.e., to a new, second image. For example, this update to thesecond image can comprise performing an OTA update of the operatingsystem code of the ECU. In other cases, the update may be performedthrough a wired connection, e.g., through the OBD port or otherconnection to the vehicle. In either case, updating to the second imagecan comprise operating on the second image while maintaining the firstimage in memory accessible by the ECU. Operating on the second image cancomprise saving 825 the second image in the memory accessible by the ECUwithout overwriting or erasing the first image and setting 830 a pointerto the second image saved in the memory while maintaining a pointer tothe first image. As noted above, the pointers may be stored, forexample, in a vector table used by the processor of the ECU. In anotherexample, the pointer to the second image may be stored at a fixedaddress in the memory of the ECU that the processor uses to startup orboot from while the pointer to the first image is retained at anotherknown location in the memory available for retrieval and use. In somecases, once the pointer has been set 830, the ECU may be reset orrestarted 835. The ECU can then execute 840 the second image based onthe set pointer to the second image.

At some point during operation of the ECU using the updated, secondimage, an error may occur. However, since the earlier, first image isstill available in memory and pointer to that image has been saved, thatimage can be used as a backup or replacement for the faulty secondimage. Therefore, in response to detecting 845 an error in operating onthe second image, the ECU can switch to operate on the first image ofthe operating system code maintained in the memory accessible by theECU. Operating on the first image of the operating system codemaintained in the memory accessible by the ECU can comprise setting 850a pointer to the first image based on the maintained pointer to thefirst image and executing 855 the first image based on the set pointerto the first image. Depending upon how the pointers are stored, settingthe pointer to the first image can comprise updating the vector table,writing the stored pointer to the first image to the address used tobootstrap the processor of the ECU, etc. In some cases, the ECU may bereset to affect this change.

Any of the steps, functions, and operations discussed herein can beperformed continuously and automatically.

The exemplary systems and methods of this disclosure have been describedin relation to vehicle systems and electric vehicles. However, to avoidunnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure, the precedingdescription omits a number of known structures and devices. Thisomission is not to be construed as a limitation of the scope of theclaimed disclosure. Specific details are set forth to provide anunderstanding of the present disclosure. It should, however, beappreciated that the present disclosure may be practiced in a variety ofways beyond the specific detail set forth herein.

Furthermore, while the exemplary embodiments illustrated herein show thevarious components of the system collocated, certain components of thesystem can be located remotely, at distant portions of a distributednetwork, such as a LAN and/or the Internet, or within a dedicatedsystem. Thus, it should be appreciated, that the components of thesystem can be combined into one or more devices, such as a server,communication device, or collocated on a particular node of adistributed network, such as an analog and/or digital telecommunicationsnetwork, a packet-switched network, or a circuit-switched network. Itwill be appreciated from the preceding description, and for reasons ofcomputational efficiency, that the components of the system can bearranged at any location within a distributed network of componentswithout affecting the operation of the system.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links connectingthe elements can be wired or wireless links, or any combination thereof,or any other known or later developed element(s) that is capable ofsupplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected elements.These wired or wireless links can also be secure links and may becapable of communicating encrypted information. Transmission media usedas links, for example, can be any suitable carrier for electricalsignals, including coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, andmay take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generatedduring radio-wave and infra-red data communications.

While the flowcharts have been discussed and illustrated in relation toa particular sequence of events, it should be appreciated that changes,additions, and omissions to this sequence can occur without materiallyaffecting the operation of the disclosed embodiments, configuration, andaspects.

A number of variations and modifications of the disclosure can be used.It would be possible to provide for some features of the disclosurewithout providing others.

In yet another embodiment, the systems and methods of this disclosurecan be implemented in conjunction with a special purpose computer, aprogrammed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integratedcircuit element(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digitalsignal processor, a hard-wired electronic or logic circuit such asdiscrete element circuit, a programmable logic device or gate array suchas PLD, PLA, FPGA, PAL, special purpose computer, any comparable means,or the like. In general, any device(s) or means capable of implementingthe methodology illustrated herein can be used to implement the variousaspects of this disclosure. Exemplary hardware that can be used for thepresent disclosure includes computers, handheld devices, telephones(e.g., cellular, Internet enabled, digital, analog, hybrids, andothers), and other hardware known in the art. Some of these devicesinclude processors (e.g., a single or multiple microprocessors), memory,nonvolatile storage, input devices, and output devices. Furthermore,alternative software implementations including, but not limited to,distributed processing or component/object distributed processing,parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also beconstructed to implement the methods described herein.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be readilyimplemented in conjunction with software using object or object-orientedsoftware development environments that provide portable source code thatcan be used on a variety of computer or workstation platforms.Alternatively, the disclosed system may be implemented partially orfully in hardware using standard logic circuits or VLSI design. Whethersoftware or hardware is used to implement the systems in accordance withthis disclosure is dependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirementsof the system, the particular function, and the particular software orhardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems beingutilized.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be partiallyimplemented in software that can be stored on a storage medium, executedon programmed general-purpose computer with the cooperation of acontroller and memory, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, orthe like. In these instances, the systems and methods of this disclosurecan be implemented as a program embedded on a personal computer such asan applet, JAVA® or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server orcomputer workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated measurementsystem, system component, or the like. The system can also beimplemented by physically incorporating the system and/or method into asoftware and/or hardware system.

Although the present disclosure describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Other similar standards and protocols not mentioned hereinare in existence and are considered to be included in the presentdisclosure. Moreover, the standards and protocols mentioned herein andother similar standards and protocols not mentioned herein areperiodically superseded by faster or more effective equivalents havingessentially the same functions. Such replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents included in thepresent disclosure.

The present disclosure, in various embodiments, configurations, andaspects, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/orapparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, includingvarious embodiments, subcombinations, and subsets thereof. Those ofskill in the art will understand how to make and use the systems andmethods disclosed herein after understanding the present disclosure. Thepresent disclosure, in various embodiments, configurations, and aspects,includes providing devices and processes in the absence of items notdepicted and/or described herein or in various embodiments,configurations, or aspects hereof, including in the absence of suchitems as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g., forimproving performance, achieving ease, and/or reducing cost ofimplementation.

The foregoing discussion of the disclosure has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description. The foregoing is not intendedto limit the disclosure to the form or forms disclosed herein. In theforegoing Detailed Description for example, various features of thedisclosure are grouped together in one or more embodiments,configurations, or aspects for the purpose of streamlining thedisclosure. The features of the embodiments, configurations, or aspectsof the disclosure may be combined in alternate embodiments,configurations, or aspects other than those discussed above. This methodof disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention thatthe claimed disclosure requires more features than are expressly recitedin each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventiveaspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosedembodiment, configuration, or aspect. Thus, the following claims arehereby incorporated into this Detailed Description, with each claimstanding on its own as a separate preferred embodiment of thedisclosure.

Moreover, though the description of the disclosure has includeddescription of one or more embodiments, configurations, or aspects andcertain variations and modifications, other variations, combinations,and modifications are within the scope of the disclosure, e.g., as maybe within the skill and knowledge of those in the art, afterunderstanding the present disclosure. It is intended to obtain rights,which include alternative embodiments, configurations, or aspects to theextent permitted, including alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalentstructures, functions, ranges, or steps to those claimed, whether or notsuch alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions,ranges, or steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publiclydedicate any patentable subject matter.

Embodiments include a method for updating software in a remote device,the method comprising: operating, by an Electronic Control Unit (ECU),on a first image of an operating system code; updating, by the ECU, to asecond image of the operating system code, wherein updating to thesecond image comprises operating, by the ECU, on the second image whilemaintaining the first image in memory accessible by the ECU; and inresponse to detecting an error in operating on the second image,operating, by the ECU, on the first image of the operating system codemaintained in the memory accessible by the ECU.

Aspects of the above method include wherein operating on the first imageof the operating system code comprises: saving, by the ECU, the firstimage in the memory accessible by the ECU; setting, by the ECU, apointer to the first image saved in the memory; and executing, by theECU, the first image based on the set pointer to the first image.

Aspects of the above method include wherein updating to the second imageof the operating system code comprises: saving, by the ECU, the secondimage in the memory accessible by the ECU without overwriting or erasingthe first image; setting, by the ECU, a pointer to the second imagesaved in the memory while maintaining a pointer to the first image; andexecuting, by the ECU, the second image based on the set pointer to thesecond image.

Aspects of the above method include wherein the pointer to the firstimage and the pointer to the second image are stored in a vector tablein the memory accessible by the ECU.

Aspects of the above method include wherein operating on the first imageof the operating system code maintained in the memory accessible by theECU in response to detecting an error in operating on the second imagecomprises: setting, by the ECU, a pointer to the first image based onthe maintained pointer to the first image; and executing, by the ECU,the first image based on the set pointer to the first image.

Aspects of the above method include wherein the ECU comprises an ECU fora component or system of a vehicle.

Aspects of the above method include wherein updating to the second imagecomprises performing an Over-The-Air (OTA) update of the operatingsystem code of the ECU.

Embodiments include an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) comprising: aprocessor; and a memory coupled with and readable by the processor andstoring therein a set of instructions which, when executed by theprocessor, causes the processor to update software in the ECU by:operating, by the processor, on a first image of an operating systemcode; updating, by the processor, to a second image of the operatingsystem code, wherein updating to the second image comprises operating,by the processor, on the second image while maintaining the first imagein the memory; and in response to detecting an error in operating on thesecond image, operating, by the processor, on the first image of theoperating system code maintained in the memory.

Aspects of the above ECU include wherein operating on the first image ofthe operating system code comprises: saving, by the processor, the firstimage in the memory; setting, by the processor, a pointer to the firstimage saved in the memory; and executing, by the processor, the firstimage based on the set pointer to the first image.

Aspects of the above ECU include wherein updating to the second image ofthe operating system code comprises: saving, by the processor, thesecond image in the memory without overwriting or erasing the firstimage; setting, by the processor, a pointer to the second image whilemaintaining a pointer to the first image; and executing, by theprocessor, the second image based on the set pointer to the secondimage.

Aspects of the above ECU include wherein the pointer to the first imageand the pointer to the second image are stored in a vector table in thememory.

Aspects of the above ECU include wherein operating on the first image ofthe operating system code maintained in the memory accessible by the ECUin response to detecting an error in operating on the second imagecomprises: setting, by the processor, a pointer to the first image basedon the maintained pointer to the first image; and executing, by theprocessor, the first image based on the set pointer to the first image.

Aspects of the above ECU include wherein the ECU comprises an ECU for acomponent or system of a vehicle.

Aspects of the above ECU include wherein updating to the second imagecomprises performing an Over-The-Air (OTA) update of the operatingsystem code of the ECU.

Embodiments include a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprisinga set of instructions stored therein which, when executed by aprocessor, causes the processor to perform a software update by:operating, by an Electronic Control Unit (ECU), on a first image of anoperating system code; updating, by the ECU, to a second image of theoperating system code, wherein updating to the second image comprisesoperating, by the ECU, on the second image while maintaining the firstimage in memory accessible by the ECU; and in response to detecting anerror in operating on the second image, operating, by the ECU, on thefirst image of the operating system code maintained in the memoryaccessible by the ECU.

Aspects of the above non-transitory computer-readable medium includewherein operating on the first image of the operating system codecomprises: saving, by the ECU, the first image in the memory accessibleby the ECU; setting, by the ECU, a pointer to the first image saved inthe memory; and executing, by the ECU, the first image based on the setpointer to the first image.

Aspects of the above non-transitory computer-readable medium includewherein updating to the second image of the operating system codecomprises: saving, by the ECU, the second image in the memory accessibleby the ECU without overwriting or erasing the first image; setting, bythe ECU, a pointer to the second image saved in the memory whilemaintaining a pointer to the first image; and executing, by the ECU, thesecond image based on the set pointer to the second image.

Aspects of the above non-transitory computer-readable medium includewherein the pointer to the first image and the pointer to the secondimage are stored in a vector table in the memory accessible by the ECU.

Aspects of the above non-transitory computer-readable medium includewherein operating on the first image of the operating system codemaintained in the memory accessible by the ECU in response to detectingan error in operating on the second image comprises: setting, by theECU, a pointer to the first image based on the maintained pointer to thefirst image; and executing, by the ECU, the first image based on the setpointer to the first image.

Aspects of the above non-transitory computer-readable medium includewherein the ECU comprises an ECU for a component or system of a vehicleand wherein updating to the second image comprises performing anOver-The-Air (OTA) update of the operating system code of the ECU.

Any one or more of the aspects/embodiments as substantially disclosedherein.

Any one or more of the aspects/embodiments as substantially disclosedherein optionally in combination with any one or more otheraspects/embodiments as substantially disclosed herein.

One or means adapted to perform any one or more of the aboveaspects/embodiments as substantially disclosed herein.

The phrases “at least one,” “one or more,” “or,” and “and/or” areopen-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive inoperation. For example, each of the expressions “at least one of A, Band C,” “at least one of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” “oneor more of A, B, or C,” “A, B, and/or C,” and “A, B, or C” means Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, or A, B and C together.

The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. Assuch, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more,” and “at least one” can beused interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms“comprising,” “including,” and “having” can be used interchangeably.

The term “automatic” and variations thereof, as used herein, refers toany process or operation, which is typically continuous orsemi-continuous, done without material human input when the process oroperation is performed. However, a process or operation can beautomatic, even though performance of the process or operation usesmaterial or immaterial human input, if the input is received beforeperformance of the process or operation. Human input is deemed to bematerial if such input influences how the process or operation will beperformed. Human input that consents to the performance of the processor operation is not deemed to be “material.”

Aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of an embodimentthat is entirely hardware, an embodiment that is entirely software(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” or “system.”Any combination of one or more computer-readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signalmedium or a computer-readable storage medium.

A computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limitedto, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combinationof the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer-readable storage medium would include the following: anelectrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computerdiskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory(ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or anysuitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document,a computer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that cancontain or store a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

A computer-readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer-readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer-readable signal medium may be any computer-readable medium thatis not a computer-readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program codeembodied on a computer-readable medium may be transmitted using anyappropriate medium, including, but not limited to, wireless, wireline,optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of theforegoing.

The terms “determine,” “calculate,” “compute,” and variations thereof,as used herein, are used interchangeably and include any type ofmethodology, process, mathematical operation or technique.

The term “electric vehicle” (EV), also referred to herein as an electricdrive vehicle, may use one or more electric motors or traction motorsfor propulsion. An electric vehicle may be powered through a collectorsystem by electricity from off-vehicle sources, or may be self-containedwith a battery or generator to convert fuel to electricity. An electricvehicle generally includes a rechargeable electricity storage system(RESS) (also called Full Electric Vehicles (FEV)). Power storage methodsmay include: chemical energy stored on the vehicle in on-board batteries(e.g., battery electric vehicle or BEV), on board kinetic energy storage(e.g., flywheels), and/or static energy (e.g., by on-board double-layercapacitors). Batteries, electric double-layer capacitors, and flywheelenergy storage may be forms of rechargeable on-board electrical storage.

The term “hybrid electric vehicle” refers to a vehicle that may combinea conventional (usually fossil fuel-powered) powertrain with some formof electric propulsion. Most hybrid electric vehicles combine aconventional internal combustion engine (ICE) propulsion system with anelectric propulsion system (hybrid vehicle drivetrain). In parallelhybrids, the ICE and the electric motor are both connected to themechanical transmission and can simultaneously transmit power to drivethe wheels, usually through a conventional transmission. In serieshybrids, only the electric motor drives the drivetrain, and a smallerICE works as a generator to power the electric motor or to recharge thebatteries. Power-split hybrids combine series and parallelcharacteristics. A full hybrid, sometimes also called a strong hybrid,is a vehicle that can run on just the engine, just the batteries, or acombination of both. A mid hybrid is a vehicle that cannot be drivensolely on its electric motor, because the electric motor does not haveenough power to propel the vehicle on its own.

The term “rechargeable electric vehicle” or “REV” refers to a vehiclewith on board rechargeable energy storage, including electric vehiclesand hybrid electric vehicles.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for updating software in a remotedevice, the method comprising: operating, by an Electronic Control Unit(ECU), on a first image of an operating system code; updating, by theECU, to a second image of the operating system code, wherein updating tothe second image comprises operating, by the ECU, on the second imagewhile maintaining the first image in memory accessible by the ECU; andin response to detecting an error in operating on the second image,operating, by the ECU, on the first image of the operating system codemaintained in the memory accessible by the ECU.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein operating on the first image of the operating system codecomprises: saving, by the ECU, the first image in the memory accessibleby the ECU; setting, by the ECU, a pointer to the first image saved inthe memory; and executing, by the ECU, the first image based on the setpointer to the first image.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein updatingto the second image of the operating system code comprises: saving, bythe ECU, the second image in the memory accessible by the ECU withoutoverwriting or erasing the first image; setting, by the ECU, a pointerto the second image saved in the memory while maintaining a pointer tothe first image; and executing, by the ECU, the second image based onthe set pointer to the second image.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinthe pointer to the first image and the pointer to the second image arestored in a vector table in the memory accessible by the ECU.
 5. Themethod of claim 3, wherein operating on the first image of the operatingsystem code maintained in the memory accessible by the ECU in responseto detecting an error in operating on the second image comprises:setting, by the ECU, a pointer to the first image based on themaintained pointer to the first image; and executing, by the ECU, thefirst image based on the set pointer to the first image.
 6. The methodof claim 5, wherein the ECU comprises an ECU for a component or systemof a vehicle.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein updating to the secondimage comprises performing an Over-The-Air (OTA) update of the operatingsystem code of the ECU.
 8. An Electronic Control Unit (ECU) comprising:a processor; and a memory coupled with and readable by the processor andstoring therein a set of instructions which, when executed by theprocessor, causes the processor to update software in the ECU by:operating, by the processor, on a first image of an operating systemcode; updating, by the processor, to a second image of the operatingsystem code, wherein updating to the second image comprises operating,by the processor, on the second image while maintaining the first imagein the memory; and in response to detecting an error in operating on thesecond image, operating, by the processor, on the first image of theoperating system code maintained in the memory.
 9. The ECU of claim 8,wherein operating on the first image of the operating system codecomprises: saving, by the processor, the first image in the memory;setting, by the processor, a pointer to the first image saved in thememory; and executing, by the processor, the first image based on theset pointer to the first image.
 10. The ECU of claim 9, wherein updatingto the second image of the operating system code comprises: saving, bythe processor, the second image in the memory without overwriting orerasing the first image; setting, by the processor, a pointer to thesecond image while maintaining a pointer to the first image; andexecuting, by the processor, the second image based on the set pointerto the second image.
 11. The ECU of claim 10, wherein the pointer to thefirst image and the pointer to the second image are stored in a vectortable in the memory.
 12. The ECU of claim 10, wherein operating on thefirst image of the operating system code maintained in the memoryaccessible by the ECU in response to detecting an error in operating onthe second image comprises: setting, by the processor, a pointer to thefirst image based on the maintained pointer to the first image; andexecuting, by the processor, the first image based on the set pointer tothe first image.
 13. The ECU of claim 12, wherein the ECU comprises anECU for a component or system of a vehicle.
 14. The ECU of claim 13,wherein updating to the second image comprises performing anOver-The-Air (OTA) update of the operating system code of the ECU.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a set of instructionsstored therein which, when executed by a processor, causes the processorto perform a software update by: operating, by an Electronic ControlUnit (ECU), on a first image of an operating system code; updating, bythe ECU, to a second image of the operating system code, whereinupdating to the second image comprises operating, by the ECU, on thesecond image while maintaining the first image in memory accessible bythe ECU; and in response to detecting an error in operating on thesecond image, operating, by the ECU, on the first image of the operatingsystem code maintained in the memory accessible by the ECU.
 16. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein operatingon the first image of the operating system code comprises: saving, bythe ECU, the first image in the memory accessible by the ECU; setting,by the ECU, a pointer to the first image saved in the memory; andexecuting, by the ECU, the first image based on the set pointer to thefirst image.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim16, wherein updating to the second image of the operating system codecomprises: saving, by the ECU, the second image in the memory accessibleby the ECU without overwriting or erasing the first image; setting, bythe ECU, a pointer to the second image saved in the memory whilemaintaining a pointer to the first image; and executing, by the ECU, thesecond image based on the set pointer to the second image.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the pointerto the first image and the pointer to the second image are stored in avector table in the memory accessible by the ECU.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein operating on the firstimage of the operating system code maintained in the memory accessibleby the ECU in response to detecting an error in operating on the secondimage comprises: setting, by the ECU, a pointer to the first image basedon the maintained pointer to the first image; and executing, by the ECU,the first image based on the set pointer to the first image.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the ECUcomprises an ECU for a component or system of a vehicle and whereinupdating to the second image comprises performing an Over-The-Air (OTA)update of the operating system code of the ECU.